1. Field of the Invention
Directed to dental improvements specifically relating to the immobilization of the jaw.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Patent Citations
U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,433 discloses an orthodontic appliance for intermaxillary tooth correction comprising a pair of housings adapted to be connected to teeth in the upper and lower jaws respectively. Each housing has a pulley joined together by a pull cable with springs acting to draw the ends of the cable in opposite directions. The cables are wound in opposite directions so that the cable ends need not be centered in the housings. This facilitates assembly of the devices in which both are made of identical parts for ease of manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,219 discloses surgical ball hooks for intermaxillary fixation that are adjustably positionable on an archwire and which include a tubular base received by the archwire and an elongated bar or arm fixed at one end to the base and at right angles to the base and having its other end ball shaped. The tubular base may be seamless or split wherein the seamless version is mounted on the wire prior to placement of the wire and the split version may be mounted onto the wire subsequent to placement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,955 discloses a device for the temporary fixation of teeth, teeth rows or jaw parts. The device has a wire (9), on which annular composite carriers (7) are movably arranged. The composite carriers (7) can, for example, be flexible synthetic material rings of cross-section in the form of a truncated cone, through which the wire (9) is guided by means of two holes (8) arranged in the walls, which lie opposite one another, of the composite carriers (7). The new splint makes possible the exact positioning of the composite carriers (7) which are arranged movably on the wire (9) and can be deformed at will by hand. After a caustic pretreatment of the tooth surface, the composite carriers (7), which are joined together by means of the wire (9), are placed on the teeth row to be connected and the cavities (A) of the composite carriers (7) are filled with composite (K) which surrounds on all sides the wire (9), which runs at a distance from the tooth surface, and connects both the wire (9) and the composite carriers (7) stably to the tooth surfaces. Use for the temporary fixation of traumatically dislocated teeth after their repositioning or for post-operative immobilization of jaw parts. The decisive advantage of the device is that it can be used not only by dentists, but also in particular by non-dentally trained personnel, that is to say emergency doctors, surgeons and auxiliary medical personnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,365 discloses fracture reduction and intermaxillary fixation being performed with a dental splint that is directly bonded by cement to the teeth of a patient for temporarily fixing and immobilizing the patient's jaws during and following oral surgery. The splint includes an arch band having a backside surface for receiving a deposit of bonding cement and a facial side surface from which multiple ligature studs project for engaging ligature wires. Each stud includes a tapered shank portion and a symmetrical head portion. The head portion of each stud is conformed for pivotal coupling engagement with a forceps tool. The arch band is intersected by multiple flow passages that permit bonding cement deposited on the back side surface of the arch band to flow or extrude onto the facial side surface as the arch band is pressed against the patient's teeth. Symmetrical construction of the head portions allows universal coupling engagement and manipulation by installation and de-bonding tools.
Current Techniques
The maxilla and mandible form the upper and lower jaw of a human being. The maxilla is a fusion of two bones that form the upper jaw holding the upper set of teeth in place whilst the mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. When a patient has fractured his or her jaw it becomes necessary to immobilize the mandible. In a procedure known as Intermaxillary Fixation, an Oral or Maxillofacial surgeon immobilizes the mandible to promote the healing process. Alternatively, this process can be used for radical weight reduction in cases of extreme need. In either case, current techniques suffer from various limitations including bleeding, discomfort, cost and the difficulty of removal of the dental devices. Currently, there are three main methods of accomplishing the Intermaxillary Fixation; these are namely, the use of bone-supported techniques (Cortical Bone Screws, hanger plates, inter-arch mini-plates), the Arch Bar method and the use of Ernst Ligatures.
FIG. 1 illustrates the prior art apparatus as applied to the jaw and teeth of a patient for immobilizing the jaw and teeth of a patient utilizing an arch bar apparatus 100 in one view and a cortical bone screw apparatus 110 in the other drawing. Item 100 shows the jaws and teeth of a patient that have been immobilized using an arch bar apparatus 120. The arch bar 120 is made up of two bars placed in contact with the upper and lower sets of teeth as generally shown in FIG. 1. For the sake of clarity, drawing 100 illustrates the arch bars before they have been placed over the teeth of the patient. A dental professional moves these over the teeth and interlaces them with wiring so as to fix the jaw in place.
Item 110 depicts the jaws and teeth of a patient that have been immobilized using the prior art apparatus know as a cortical bone screw 130. Another method of immobilizing the maxilla and mandible utilizes the cortical bone screw system. The cortical bone screw system 130 utilizes several bone screws to penetrate the lower and upper jaws of a patient. Once fixed to the patient's mandible and maxilla these screws are used to shut the patient's jaw through the use of wires that are tightened around the various screws passing up, down and around the screws at the discretion of the medical practitioner.
The final common technique for immobilizing the mandible uses what are known as Ernst Ligatures. In this method, a wire is passed through the inter-dental space of neighboring teeth in the same segment of one dental arch and further threaded a few times until a closed loop can be tightened. Ligatures are added as needed on the different sides of the mouth that leads to the final closure of the mouth by a dental professional twisting the ends of the wires together as needed.
All of the aforementioned techniques suffer from various disadvantages including but not limited to: painful application of the device, bleeding, possibility of infection, great discomfort and cost of the materials.